Posts from Meal Helpers

It's not sour cream. It isn't whipping cream. It doesn't quite seem to be cream cheese. But it's all over TV ads and prominently displayed in the grocery cooler, coupons waving atop smartly-colored tubs. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is "cooking creme"?

Penzeys calls these "soup bases", but they're really more of a concentrated stock or bouillon. A few scoops dissolved in a pot of water is instant soup awesomeness. And with Penzeys reputation for high quality spices and products, we have no doubt that this will be true.

I discovered this jar in the back of my pantry, and on an evening when my dinner options were sparse. Cracking open the jar, these giant (they really are huge!) beans didn't seem like much. But when heated up with couscous and a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, I was surprised at the meal that resulted!

We always seem to have at least one can of coconut milk stashed away in the pantry. When we get tired of our normal run of standby meals, it's just the thing to get things interesting again. Here are five of our favorite recipes, all using one can of coconut milk.

It's really surprising how few recipes are out there for homemade bouillon. Stock, yes. Court bouillon, sure. But a concentrated bouillon paste that we can use to whip up a quick vegetable broth or add flavor to a pilaf? Not so much. In fact, we only found one recipe that fits what we're looking for.

I tend to cringe when I see jars marked soup starter at the store. What about all the love one adds to a soup chopping vegetables and slowly simmering it on the stove? But then I remembered growing up on chicken soup made from chicken soup base and bouillon and had a change of heart. Are jarred starters the new wave of soup bases or are they to be avoided?

We all know that homemade broth or stock is a thing of beauty and delight. There's an immense amount of flavor in even the weakest homemade broth, and in an ideal world we would continually replenish our quarts of chicken, beef, turkey, and vegetable broth in the freezer for impromptu soup-making. In reality, though, we never have enough homemade stock for every weeknight cooking project — especially during Soup Week! So, the question is, which storebought broth is best? Do you have a favorite? Any recommendations?

Inferior though it may be to homemade stock, the truth is that we depend on store-bought broth to help us with a lot of our quick weeknight dinners. Here are a few easy ways to amp up the flavor in those cans to give us some truly tasty meals.

There's a stand at the New Amsterdam Market in New York City I visit every Sunday that sells flavored salts, olive oils, and vinegars. I always taste the exotic flavored salts and recently brought some home to try. They're great! Have you used flavored salts?

I am a die hard make-it-from-scratch cook for dinner parties. I'll take the extra step to make even the most basic foods myself -- hand-rolled tortillas, homemade caramel, pie crusts, and everything in between. Although these details make a difference to me, I've learned that cutting a few corners never breaks a party. Tip number one: Trader Joe's red pepper spread.